Shredder-feeder.



J. B. SGHUMAN. SHRBDDBB. FEEDER. AYPLIOATION" FILED NOV. 8, 1905.

Ptented Mar.28,419111.

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`J. E. SGHUM'AN.

SHEEDDEE FEEDER. PPLIUATION FILED NOT-8,1905.

' Patented 111211128, 1911.

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J, B. SGHUMAN. SHRBDDER FEEDER APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1905.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

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IINII SAIES @FFIGCM JAMES B. SCIIUIVIAN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA,ASSIGNOR TO THE SCIIUMAN COMPANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ACORPORATION OF MAINE.

SHREDDER-FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 8, 1905.

Patented Mai'. 28, 191m.. Serial No. 286,439.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known `that I, JAMES B. Sci-IUMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shredder-Feeders,of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a mechanism by which entire`shocks of corn, or other stalk crops, may be delivered to the feeder andby it automatically delivered in successive portions to a shredder orother stalk treatingl means.

A further object of my invention is to provide a structure by means ofwhich the stalks may be fed crosswise to the snapping rollers or othertreating means instead of endwise as has heretofore been customary.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a machine embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;Fig. 3 a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a side elevation ofthe feeding throat, and Fig. 5 a detail of one of the feed belts. In thedrawings, 10 indicates a shredder provided with a pair of transversesnapping rollers 11, a shredder cylinder 12 to the rear thereof, huskingrollers 13 arranged beneath the snapping rollers, the transverse corndischarging belt 14, and the screens 15 of any well known form.

My feeder attachment consists of a frame 20 which is adapted to beeither attached to a shredder, or built integrally therewith, preferablythe latter. At the front end this fra-me is provided with a horizontaltable 21 which is of sufcient size to receive an entire shock of cornlaid upon its side. Running over this platform 21 is an endless raddlebelt 22 adapted to be driven occasionally `in the direct-ion indicatedby the arrow in Fig. 1. This belt 21 is driven by means of a belt 24from any continuously moving portion of the machine, an intermediateconnection being made therewith by any suitable clutch through themedium of the clutch lever 25,

or otherwise, the construct-ion being such that the raddle 22 may bedriven in/the direction indicated whenever desired, so as to dischargean entire shock upon a slotted platform 26 in which run suitable feedbelts 27, said belts being also intermittently moved in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 by means of suitable clutch mechanism28 and a pulley 29 which is constantly driven.

Arranged above the platform 26 is a feeder frame 30 which is pivoted atits rear end on the shaft 31, a comparatively short distance above theplatform 26. The forward free end of frame 30 is held by means of a rope32 which is passed up and forward to a suitable windlass 33 by means ofwhich the height of the forward end of the frame 30 may be readilyadjusted, so that the feeder belts carried thereby may be dropped downinto engagement with the upper portion of a shock of corn dischargedupon the platform 26.

It is very diflicultto present the butt ends of corn stalks to thesnapping rolls as the butts are large and hard and the rolls do notreadily take hold. I deem it desirable,

therefore, that an intermediate softer poi-` tion of the stalk be rstpresented to the rolls, the action of the rolls, so far as the ears areconcerned, being the same in either case. For this it is desirable thatthe middle one of the feeder belts carried by the frame 30 be moved morerapidly than the end belts, and I have therefore provided a structureillustrated more especially in Fig. 2. The frame 30 carries at its freeend a shaft 34 upon which is journaled at its middle, a sprocket wheel35 over which runs a feed chain 36 having suitable drag teeth 37. Chain36 passes over a sprocket wheel 38 which is attached to the shaft 31.Sleeved upon each end of shaft 31 is a sleeve or tubular shaft 4() whichcarries one or more sprocket wheels 41. Running over each of thesprocket wheels 41 is a chain 36 which is similar to the chain 36, andprovided with similar feed teeth. The chains 36 also run over sprocketwheels 42 which are j ournaled upon the shaft 34. In order that theremay be a difference in speed of the movement of the chains 36 and 36 Iarrange to drive shaft 31 continuously by means of a sprocket wheel 43which is splined upon said shaft and is driven by a chain il whichpasses around a sprocket wheel l5 carried by a shaft 46. This shaft isin turn driven by the sprocket 47, chain I8 and sprocket 49 carried byone of the snapping shafts.

IVhenever a difference in movement of chain 36 and chains 36 is desired,the chains 36 are allowed to stand still, and in order to accomplishthis result one of the sleeves 40 (at the bottom ofFig. 2) is providedwith a sprocket wheel 50, and the hubs of the two wheels Ll?) and 50 areprovided with linterengaging clutch members 5l, the arrange-ment beingsuch that the sprocket wheel Ll-S may be'shifted on the shaft 11 bymeans of a suitable shifting lever 52. If desired, the various sprocketwheels 42 might be attached to the shaft 3d in which case the chains 36at the upper end of F 2 would be driven from the wrong end, and in orderto provide proper driving` at the ends of these two chains I prefer tokey only one of the sprocket wheels 42 of the shaft 34 (the one in thelower right hand corner of Fig. 2), and then attach to the other end ofshaft 8i a sprocket wheel 53 which carries the chain 5t, which chainextends to a sprocket wheel 55 attached to the sleeve Ll() at that sideof the machine.

The chains 27 and 3G form a throat which delivers the stalks in acomparatively thin layer (practically one at a time) to a trans verselyreciprocating finger bar G0 which lies immediately to the rear of theplatform 26 and has longitudinal fingers G0 which bridge the spacebetween said platform and the crotch of the snapping rollers 11. Thefinger bar GO may be reciprocated by any suitable means, such forinstance, as the eccentric Gl, strap 62 and bell-.crank lever 63 whichis connected to the finger bar 60. Arranged immediately above the fingerbar 60, and immediately to the rear of the chains 3G and 3G are similarchains 360 and 860. rIhe chain BGG is in alinement with the chain 36,and is carried by a sprocket wheel 380 attached to the middle of shaft4G, and a sprocket wheel 350 journaled on a shaft G4. Sleeved upon oneend of shaft 46 is a sleeve 400 which, like sleeve 40, carries a pair ofsprocket wheels 410 over each of which runs one of the chains 360', saidchains also running over sprocket wheels i-2() which are journaled onthe shaft 64.` The sleeve 40() is provided with a sprocket wheel 401,and a chain A102 runs to said sprocket wheel from the sprocket wheel 50.At the other end of shaft 46 I provide a sleeve L100 which car- Fig. 2,the two chains 36 and 360 will be driven while the chains 36 and 360will remain stationary or, by shifting the sprocket wheel 43 so as tobring the clutch membersinto coaction all of the chains will be drivenat the saine speed, or a different speed if a difference in diameter bemade between the sprocket wheels 45 and 13. In order to permit thechains 3G and 360 to remain idle without interfering with the feeding ofthe stalks by the chains 36 and 360, I deem it advisable to pivot thedrag` fingers 37 of each chain on a pivot 37', and provide each of saidfingers with a stop member 37 adapted to engage a stop 37 on the chain,said stops limiting the pivotal movement of the finger 37 in onedirection.

The structure described is intended to handle the stalks crosswise, and,in order that the shredder may not need to be of eX- cessive width, Iprovide at each end of the snapping rollers an adjustable throat whichis formed by a pivoted throat-piece pivoted at the end nearest thesnapping rollers and capable of being swung outwardly to widen thethroat, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig., 3. Each of these throatpieces is provided at its forward end with a roller 71 to facilitate thedragging of the'ends of the stalk thereover, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The platforms 21 and 26 are suitably flanked by working platforms 75which may be turned down for transportation.

In order to lift entire shocks to the platform 21, I provide a suitablederrick frame 8O which carries a transverse track beam 8l upon which ismovably mounted a hoist-ing carriage 82 having a hoisting rope S3, saidrope passing downward over suitable idlers to a winding drum 84 whichmay be connected by the use of a suitable shifting lever 85 with anymoving part of the machine so as to lift the shocks by power. As thepower lifting mechanism forms no part of my present invention I do notdeem it necessary to illustrate it in any further det-ail.

In operation, an entire shock of corn is lifted onto the platform 21,and after its band has been cut, the raddle 22 is moved in the directionindicated by the arrow so as to discharge the entire shock, or anyportion thereof, onto the platform 2G into the crotch formed betweensaid platform and the feeder frameV 30, the chains 27 being drivenforward enough to bring the stalks sufficiently into the crotch. Thefeeder frame 30 is then lowered until its chains will engage the stalksin the upper portion of the mass on the platform 26, and these chainsserve to strip these stalks from the upper portion of the mass, andcarry them downward and rearward, forcing them between the throat pieces70, as indicated in Fig. 3, and deliverinoh them tothe chains 3G and 360which in turn deliver the stalks to the snapping rollers l1 betweenwhich the stalks pass to the shredder drum l2, while the ears of cornwhich are snapped by the snapping rollers drop to the husking rollers13. ff the stalks are too long to be readily fed to the snapping rollersby the combined action of all of the feed chains, the outer chains 36and 360 will be stopped, and the stalks grasped only at their middles,and driven rearward between the throat pieces so as to be doubled uponthemselves. As the mass of stalks on the platform 26 decreases, thefeeder frame 30 will be lowered, the chains of said frame servingcontinuously to feed the stalks from the top of the mass and not fromthe bottom. ln the course of time a new mass of stalks is delivered tothe platform 26 by the raddle 22 and the operation is repeated.

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination, with stalk crop treating means, of means forsupporting a mass of stalks in feeding position relative thereto, meansadjacent the supporting means for engaging stalks of the masssuccessively and carrying them to the treating means, and meansadjacentthe line of movement of the stalks for bending the stalks at anintermediate point and presenting the advanced intermediate point to thetreating means.

2. The combination, with stalk crop treating' means, of means forholding a mass of stalks in feeding position relative thereto, membersforming a feeding throat leading from said supporting means to thetreating means, the outer end of said throat members engaging the endsof the stalk, .and means for engaging' an intermediate portion of thestalk to drive the same into the throat with an intermediate portion ofthe stalk in advance of its ends.

The combination, with stalk crop treatinO means, of a feeding platformadapted to receive a mass of stalks, a feeding frame arranged above saidsupporting platform and movable toward and from the same, and feedingmeans carried by said feeding frame to engage the upper stalks of themass and drive them successively toward the treating STD means withtheir middles in advance of their ends.

t. rihe combination, with stalk crop treating means, of a feedingplatform adapted to receive a mass of stalks, a feeding frame arrangedabove said supporting platform and movable toward and from the same,feeding means carried by said feeding frame to engage the upper stalksof the mass to bend the same with their middles in advance of their endsand drive them successively toward the treating means, and means foroccasionally advancing a mass of stalks along the receiving platformtoward the treating means.

5. A feeder consisting of a platform adapted to receive a mass of stalkstransversely thereon, a feeder frame arranged above said platform andadjustable toward and from the same, and a feeding means carried by saidframe to engage the upper stalks of the mass and drive the same forwardtransversely with their middles in advance of their ends.

G. A feeder consisting of a platform adapted to receive transversely amass of stalks, a second platform arranged forward of said firstplatform and also adapted to receive a mass of stalks transversely fromthe first platform, feeding means adapted to engage an intermediateportion of the stalks and drive the same forward transversely, and meansfor engaging the ends of the stalks and retarding the same whereby thestalks will be bent at an intermediate point and driven forward with theapex in advance.

7. In a stalk feeder, the combination with members forming a feedingthroat having outer ends adapted to engage the ends of stalks, of meansarranged before said throat for engaging an intermediate portion of astalk and driving the same transversely into the feeding throat, wherebythe stalk will be bent and fed forward apex rst.

8. The combination, with a pair of coacting snapping rolls, of feedingmeans arranged in the throatl of said snapping rolls, said feeding meanscomprising mechanism to engage and bend a corn stalk forwardly at apoint intermediate of its length, and drive said forwardly bent portionto said snapping rolls.

9. The combination Vwith a pair-'of coacting snapping rolls of feedingmeans arranged in the throat of said rolls, said feeding meanscomprising a movable feeder member movable toward the throat of saidrolls at a point intermediate of the length of the rolls and formed topositively engage corn stalks at a point intermediate of their lengthsto drive the same forwardly positively,7 into the throat of the rolls,and means In witness whereof, I have hereunto set for retarding theforward movement of the my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, 10ends of the stalks relative to the forward this first day of November,A.*D. one thoumox'ement of the middle thereof whereby sund nine hundredand live.

5 the stalks are initially given nk V-shzrpe JAMES B. SCHUMAN. |:L. 5.]

with the point in advance of the ends and 1Witnesses: said point driveninto the throat between ARTHUR M. Hoon7 the rolls in advance of theends. JAMES` A. WALSH..

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C.

